Lock for mail boxes



Oct. 5,1926. v 1,301.806

Ms MQSTKOFF I LOCK FOR MAIL BOXES Filed March 5 1925 l NVENTOR MMarl/eaff ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 5, 1926.

UNITED STATES ;PATEN OFFICE.

MORRIS BROOKLYN, NEW

LOCK FOR MAIL BOXES.

Application filed March 5, 1925. Serial No. 13,028.

lock which is operated to the closed or open position by the rotation of disks, the latter being actuated by an indicator arm which is movable over a dial.

The above and other objects will become apparent in the description below, in which characters of reference refer'to like-named parts in the drawing. 7

Referring briefly to the drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the letter box, .showing the location of the indicator and dial.

Figure 2 is a front elevational View of the reverse side of the letter box door, illustrating the position of the locking device.-

Figure 3 is a side elevational viewof Figure 2, showing the construction of the lock.

Figure 4 is an elevational View of the reverse side of the door with the lockin partly disengaged position. V I

Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure 4, showing the disks in a farther advanced position. V

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4, showing the disks in releasable position.

Referring in detail to' the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates the front wall of a letter box. Said box has a slit at its upper end thru which mail is inserted into the box, which is covered by a sloping lid 11 on which letters are engraved indicating the purpose for the slit. This lid is hinged on its upper horizontal edge so that the same may be rotated to uncover the slit when necessary. Below the lid, a relatively large square opening is formed thru which the hand is inserted when removing the contained mail. This square opening is normally sealed by a door 12 having at one of its corners an orifice which. is covered by. a transparent glass plate 18, the latter being provided to make the interior of the mail box visible. The door is rotatable about hinges 14 forming part of the door, and are anchored to the front wallof the mail box.

This door consists of a fiat plate having ears formed on one of its sides, the latter of which are bent and formed into the hinge sleeves 14 which :are attached to'the wall 10 by means of a hinge pin or similar construction. The free edges of the door abut upon ledges, which entirely encircle the door and these ledges are bounded by' a continuous rectangular ridge 15.

U11 the reverse side of the door intermediate its length, astud 16 is rotatably anchored. Thestud projects from both surfaces of the door and its inner extending end which projects from the reverse side, is

.allel to the surface of the reverse side of the vdoor'and at its upper and lower ends, has olf-setlegs 18 which are securely mounted on the door byrivets, 19. Between the plate and the door, a space is created in whichis housed, a smallerdisk 20 and a larger disk 21. .The smaller disk is eccentrically and rigidlyniountedon said stud 16and at the point where its periphery is farthest removed from the 'axis of rotation,- a semicircular recess .is formed. curved edge'forming the recess 22 at the intersection with the periphery of the disk are so formed that one 23 will be farther away from the axis of-rotation oftlie disk than the opposite corner 24. A larger disk is loosely and concentrically mounted on the stud 16 and is adapted to reinainsta- The ends ofthe tionary when the stud 16 is being rotated. 3

At a position on'the periphery of the disk 21, a sidewise extending ear 25 is formed and this ear is adapted to be engaged by the corner 23 of the eccentric disk 20 when the latter is rotated in the direction as indicated by the arrow in Figure 4. At a position at right angles to this ear, a larger semi-circular recess 26 is formed. hen these recesses on the difi'erent disks 21 and 20 arealigned with each other and register one above the other, a releasing of the door from its locked position becomespossible when these aligned recesses are turned to a position where the ear 25 of the larger disk 21 is at the upper vertical angle. .lVhen in this position, the recesses and the corners of these semi-circular recesses register in cut-out portions 27 and 28 which are cut into a ledge 29 formed on one side of the door orifice. On the front face of the door 12, a dial 30 is mounted thru which the stud 16 passes concentrically; On the face of this dial, a plurality of radial graduations are formed and at various positions, numerals indicating individual graduations are engraved. The end of the stud 16 which extends from the face on the dial has an indicator arm 32 secured thereon whose pointer is adapted to cover any of the graduations on the dial and indicate the opening and locking positions on the disks mounted on the opposite face of the door.

When the door is to be opened, the disks 20 and 21 are positioned in such manner that the recess 22 in the disk 20 is aligned with the recess 26-01? the larger disk 21 in a horizontal plane. In this position, the disks appear as indicated in Figure 6, in which they register in the cut-out portions 27 and 28 cut in the ledge 29. This position'ot the disks is brought about. by rotation of the stud 16 which is rotated by grasping the handle 31 formed on the indicator arm 32. In rotating this stud, the smaller eccentric disk 20 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 4 until the high point or corner 23 engages the. ear 25 formed on the larger disk 21. The stud is then further rotated until the recess 26 registers in the cut-out portions 27 and 28. When this position has been arrived at, the stud 16 is rotated in an opposite direction to permit the lower point 2 1 or" the recessed portion of the eccentric disk 20 to pass under the ear 25 and is then rotated still further in the reverse direction until it arrives at the position in dicated in Figure 6, in which the recessed portion 22 thereon is shown aligned with the recessed portion 26 on the larger disk 21, in which position the door may be opened by pulling on the handle member 31. The larger disk 21 is preferably mounted on the stud 16 in such a manner as to provide frictional contact between the frame plate 17 and the disk 21 so that the latter does not rotate unless the disk 22 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 4, and

has its ear 25in engagement with the raised corner 23 of the smaller eccentric disk 20.

1. In a mail box having an orifice surrounded by a ledge and a hinged door coveringsaid orifice and ledge, locking means for said door comprising a rotatable stud, an annular disk mounted eccentrically on said stud, an additional annular disk concentrically mounted and rotatable. on said stud, said concentric diskhaving an ear thereon adapted to be engaged by a portion of the eccentric disk when the concentric disk is being rotated, a recess in each disk, the reces'ses being adapted to align when rotated to a predetermined position, a corner on the eccentric disk being adapted to engage the ear on the concentric disk when rotated in one direction, and means on said mail boX cooperating with the disks for releasing said disks from engagement with the ledge around the opening.

2. In a mail box having an orifice surrounded by a ledge and a hinged door covering said orifice and ledge, locking means for said door comprising a rotatable stud, an annular disk'mounted cccentrically on said stud, an additional annular disk c0ncentricall v mounted and rotatable on said stud, said concentric disk having an ear thereon adapted to be engaged by'a portion of the eccentric disk when the concentric disk is being rotated, a recess in each disk, the re-.

Mortars MOSTKOFF. 

